The Siege of Vorsand

While Sack had been intruding himself into the Githyanki encampment, Hildraft had been to visit their erstwhile ally, Gozân Vráspan. Using his magic to hide his passing, he Wind Walked out of the fortress and into the Kin's camp. As he soared over the beleaguered citadel, he could see that Gozân had not been idle. His army was now laid out around the temple in much better array, serried ranks bristling with mighty siege engines, all poised and ready to unleash mayhem at his word.

Explaining swiftly to the General their situation, Hildraft made his request for a diversion, sweetening the deal by telling the Kin that the Sceptre he desired had been found. Gozân was easy to convince; quite apart from the Sceptre, he admitted that he was at the stage where he had to give his troops something agressive to do or stand them down. It seemed to him a pity to get all this ready and not use it for anything. A timescale was set, and the dwarf returned to his friends.

Sack, meanwhile, had settled in for a long wait. Shrouded in magical Silence, there was no way he could make a noise even if he'd wanted to; so he cheerfully knocked a piton into the ceiling and belayed his rope to it. A small piece of stone came loose and fell towards the floor, but he deftly caught it before it could create a disturbance.

At the appointed moment, the diversion started. Orders were called across the Dragonarmy, ropes were cut, and the mighty war engines bucked and leaped as they were released. Within the fortress, the noise was deafening as a rain of wagon-sized boulders crashed down onto the already badly damaged building.

Holes began to appear in the ceiling. A large section of roof caved in twenty feet from Surya, hurling him from his feet and showering him in dust and small stones. Siezed by an idea, he ran through the corridors, shouting at any Gith he met that the citadel was under attack. Passing through the main treasure chamber, he yelled the same message at the five red dragons there before plunging into the far corridors, heading close to where the Gith encampment was in case Sack needed help.

Sack, meanwhile, was doing fine. He'd shinnied down his rope, grabbed Ashia's Sword, and returned to the ceiling. From the faint vibrations in his wrist, he was pretty sure that the sword or some alarm spell on it was attempting to make a noise of some sort; but of course, the Silence spell was defeating that. Swiftly, he Spider Climbed across the ceiling and out of the room.

Working his way back, the half-orc saw the dust-coated Surya heading towards him on the ground. Shrouded in his chaemeleon effect, he was un-noticed, and had to throw the piece of ceiling at the Tellaran to attract his attention. Both headed back towards the vault.

The companions met up at the Vault, and Surya opened the door and retrieved the four knights' swords they'd captured. Adding these to Ashia's sword, the companions then presented the lot to the flabbergasted Kazoth. "You should be able to clear your name with these as evidence," Surya pointed out, "if you're quick."

Kazoth tucked them into the back of his armour, and bowed deeply with intricate baroque courtesy to each of the companions in turn, last and deepest to Hildraft, his alien features clearly showing his gratitude. "My friends," he said, "if ever I can be of assistance, call on me. Your magic can reach me, wherever I am," he added to Hildraft. Then he made a quick, complex gesture in the air, and was gone - plane shifted away.

The moment passed, and the companions' attention was returned to the present, as more and more massive missiles continued to smash through the crumbling remnants of Varkar Barduric's palace, which was now well on the way to complete ruination. Sack started to scramble into his armour, and the others set out to scout a way out. Hurrying down the hall to the treasure chamber, they paused for a moment as Hildraft worked a quick Stone Shape, embedding a 30' cube of gold into the floor of the chamber. The two dragons spoke to him with scorn, and he replied in kind, back and forth a couple of times as they headed back out up the passage.

Suddenly, the dragon's temper snapped. With almost no warning, it swung its' huge head and blasted a vast, billowing rush of flames at the companions. Channeled up the corridor, there was no way they could avoid it, and Hildraft, Surya and Sigred were caught in the furnace heat of the fire.

Badly hurt, Sigred staggered through an arched doorway in the passage, desperately fumbling through the words of a Heal spell. Hildraft stood his ground, also working his healing magic, while Surya, trailing smoke and brandishing his sword, charged straight at the dragon and attacked it.

Returning to the fray refreshed and healed, Sigred conjured a Blade Barrier directly in front of the second dragon, preventing it coming to the other's aid. Hildraft, thinking quickly, began the process of conjuring a water elemental, standing his ground with reckless courage as he did so. Surya's blade bit deep, and dragonblood showered across the golden floor.

Coming around the corner at the end of the passage, Sack was astounded to see a blast of flames coming at him from the other end. Ducking swiftly back the way he'd come, he sheltered from the heat as Hildraft was once again badly burned. The dwarf faltered for a second, but his faith burned hotter than dragonfire and he completed his summoning. A vast cloud of mist appeared, rapidly coalescing into a huge, upright tower of swirling water.

Then Surya landed a killing blow, and the first dragon fell with a thunderous crash.